The battle lines for West Bengal assembly polls have been drawn with BJP deciding to field Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhawanipur, Kolkata. Adhikari will also contest from Nandigram, where he defeated Mamata last time. Mamata had to contest a byelection from Bhawanipur to enter the Assembly.
BJP has also fielded its two firebrand leaders, Dilip Ghosh from Kharagpur Sadar and Agnimitra Paul from Asansol South. In all, the names of BJP candidates for 144 seats were announced on Monday.
Mamata Banerjee's support base across the state is strong, and she has proved it time and again in how elections are contested and won. But this does not, in any sense, mean that the BJP is going to take the elections lightly this time. The party is leaving no stone unturned to defeat the Trinamool Congress this time. Mistakes that were made in the last elections have been corrected this time.
If Mamata's charges are true that the names of a large chunk of her supporters have been removed from voter lists during Special Intensive Revision (SIR), then it can be a tough task for her to save her government this time.
But, true to her style, Mamata, as a grassroots leader, has hit the ground running. On Monday, she lashed out at the Election Commission for shifting out the state chief secretary, home secretary, director-general of police and Kolkata police commissioner.
Mamata Banerjee said the EC order is a conspiracy against Bengal. She went to the extent of apprehending threats to her life.
BJP leaders, however, justified the EC action.
Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar said, the bureaucrats who were shifted out were working as "party workers" for Mamata Banerjee, and their shifting was necessary.
He said, there are still several district magistrates and district police chiefs who are working for Trinamool Congress. BJP has demanded their removal too.
Constitutionally, the Election Commission has the power to transfer bureaucrats when the election process begins. But from the point of fair play, there must be justification or allegations before an official is shunted.
Secondly, why this hullabaloo over the shunting of officers? Does it mean that the Trinamool Congress had posted these officials to help the party during elections?
If the allegations that these officers were helping Trinamool Congress are true, then does Mamata Banerjee have the right to allege that officers of the EC are working at the behest of the BJP?
In a nutshell, this is not the first time that the EC has shunted bureaucrats during elections. In Maharashtra, the BJP was in power and yet the EC transferred several top officials. This time, EC transferred 4 IPS officers in Tamil Nadu, SPs of four districts were shunted, and in BJP-ruled Assam, SSPs of five districts were transferred.
There seems to be no valid reason for pointing fingers at the Election Commission on this issue.
Mamata Banerjee, on Monday, was busy taking out a 'padyatra' on Kolkata roads, along with her ministers and party leaders, to raise the issue of the shortage of LPG cylinders.
She told a rally that there was actually no shortage of LPG and the BJP is "deliberately harassing" common people by drastically cutting off LPG supplies.
Mamata Banerjee said, people of Bengal "will teach BJP a lesson this time...People do not want tall claims from the Centre, rosy promises from the BJP, they simply want LPG cylinders."
One must admit, Mamata Banerjee is a grassroots leader. She always plays on the front foot. Election dates were announced on Sunday, and on the very next day, she was on the roads of Kolkata to highlight the LPG shortage.
This makes Mamata different from other leaders. She raised the LPG cylinder issue, which is closely linked to the woes of the common man.
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